Broadband data and video services, on which our society and economy have grown to depend, have heretofore generally not been readily available to users onboard mobile network platforms such as aircraft, ships, trains, automobiles, etc. While the technology exists to deliver such services to most forms of mobile network platforms, past solutions have been generally quite expensive, with low data rates and/or available to only very limited markets of government/military users and some high-end maritime markets (i.e., cruise ships).
Previously developed systems which have attempted to provide data and video services to mobile network platforms have done so with only limited success. One major obstacle has been the high cost of access to such broadband data and video services. Another problem is the limited capacity of previously developed systems, which is insufficient for mobile network platforms carrying dozens, or even hundreds, of passengers who each may be simultaneously requesting different channels of programming or different data services. Furthermore, presently existing systems are generally not readily scalable to address the demands of the traveling public.
Of particular interest, presently existing systems also have not comprehensively addressed security issues relating to the mobile network platform. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a network security architecture for monitoring, reporting and responding to onboard security activities in a mobile network platform. It is envisioned that such a network security architecture should be designed to (a) secure computing resources to which passengers may have access on the mobile platform; (b) communicate reliably with terrestrial-based system components over an unreliable communication link; (c) provide a policy mediated response to detected security intrusion events occurring on the mobile platform; and (d) scale the management of the system to hundreds or thousands of mobile platforms.